Giovanni's New York Pizza — Restaurant in Leesburg

TLDR: Not the Giovanni’s you remember. Do not waste money here. Crust is like a stale cracker now. sandwiches so drippy you cant eat them. Appetizers/sides are inedible, freezer to fryer, no seasoning. Unfortunately, we will not be returning to Giovanni’s. My family has been coming here for years, and the decline has been traceable, but it has finally affected all of the food. I was pretty surprised that a cook could ever look at the food that was brought to our table and think that was acceptable to serve. Outlined below: -Calamari: Clearly went from freezer to fryer. The rings were thick as cement and the batter looked like Rangoon dough. Absolutely ZERO seasoning, save for a tsp. Of salt that sat under one of the pieces of calamari. The waitress was kind enough to remove this from our bill. -Mozzarella sticks: One of them was just a fried shell, no cheese inside at all. -NY style cheese pizza: I was brought pizza with uncooked cheese, I could still make out the individual pieces of shredded cheese, and it was ghost white, not even fully melted. The crust is an abomination. completely flat, burned, and stale tasting. This is normally traced to using stale/expired yeast. -Sicilian Pizza: Somehow the thick crust pizza is just as flat as the NY style. No rise in the dough, so it was just heavy and impossible to chew. The center of my slice was raw, while the outside crust was burned. The cheese was also uncooked on this like on the NY style. Pepperoni pizza: Same issue with inedible crust. The cheese was overcooked, and the pepperoni was almost like lunch meat in consistency, which is usually a sign that it was frozen and not defrosted well enough before cooking. -Pizza Cheese Steak: Dripping. And not in the fun “authentic Philly style” way. It was a weird combination of water and oil. We literally saw it gush off the sandwich like a wet sponge. The bread was in a lumpy pile and the filling was already falling off the plate when it was brought out to us. ZERO salt on the fries. The bland fries were probably the most edible thing we were served. I have no issues with relying on frozen ingredients, but the execution made this kind of insane. The waitress seemed upset with us when we said we didn't want any to go boxes. I was a little upset we weren’t offered a partial refund but at that point we just wanted to get out and find wherever was still open for actual dinner. For once I did not feel like I was wasting food by leaving it, I felt the cook had waisted food by preparing and serving our meals...

Hey there, I am from NY and still live there. I am in Leesburg to see a friend.

Giovanni's NY pizza is truly remarkable. I would say that if I lived here, this would definitely be my go to place fit pizza!!!

And their customer service....amazing! Here's it's what Gio fix fit me!!

A good friend of mine's wife was very ill, I called down from L.I. and spoke with Gio. I wanted to buy a gift card for my friend. Gio let me do the entire transaction with him over the phone, and my friend went there to use the credit for dinners.

Today I am here now because we are attending the funeral. Last night, after the wake, my friend wanted Giivann u pizzas fit all at the house. So about 9:00 pm I called Gio's and asked if they would make up 10 pies. We eventually got 15. It was totally not a problem. Gio said it will be about a half hour. We got there in 20 minutes and ALL the pies were ready. Amazing Gio!!

I introduced myself to Gio, told him who I was and thanked him for helping us out and doing that gift card earlier.

The pizzas were outstanding, hot and crusty!!!! But the best, besides the taste and the service, was the price. Unbelievable, what Great deal!!! It certainly is NY pizza without the NY price!!!

THANKS AGAIN TO...

I first went to Giovanni's back in 1979 when it was at its original location. Was the best NY Pizza I could find around the area.

But over the last couple of years, it really has become mediocre. Pizza has been burnt several times (sadly I got it to go and found out it was burnt down as I traveled down the road). Sometimes toppings have been light. Inconsistent.....miss there old pizza maker who opened his own pizza place.

Then there is the guy at the register when you come in to pick up food. I ordered a pizza every weekend for carry out several years straight. Every time I walk in, this guy never is friendly, never greets me w a "hi, how's it going", no recognition of repeat loyal business......just a BLAH attitude.

Dude, Try SMILING and acting like you appreciate your customers!!!! And I think he may be owner or the head mgr!!!

Made my choice easy as I always drove out my way to go to Giovanni's.....go...